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Summary

After five weeks of competition, the NXT Rookies have reached the first milestone in their careers with the Pros’ Poll. The eight Superstar Pros judged the Rookies on four criteria: win/loss records, the strength of their opponents, dedication and work ethic, and the “it” factor. (A Pro could not vote for his own Rookie.) WWE NXT Host Matt Striker revealed the Pro’s Poll Rookie Rankings and the results are.

The Pros will vote again in six weeks, and on that night, the NXT Rookie in last place will be eliminated from the competition. From then on, one Rookie will be eliminated each week until there’s a final four! Only one Rookie will be crowned WWE’s next breakout star and will receive a championship match on pay-per-view versus the champion of his choice.

The WWE Pros from Raw and SmackDown battled each other in an Eight-Man Tag Team Match on WWE NXT this week. But the SmackDown Pros were down a Superstar, as World Heavyweight ChampionChris Jericho was unable to compete after being hit with Edge’s devastating Spear off the announce table and into the barricade at WrestleMania. Jericho’s Rookie, Wade Barrett, stepped in, and proved to be plenty of competition for the Pros. After an assist by Jericho that the WWE official didn’t see, Barrett pinned Christian, upping his record to 3-2.

After more than a month of competition on WWE NXT, all of the Rookies were simultaneously put to the test in an Eight-Man Battle Royal, with the winner earning a special honor – guest host duties of Raw. David “A-List” Otunga, who was voted into the No. 5 spot in the Pros’ Poll, was victorious after finally eliminating Justin Gabriel. Otunga heads to Raw with a 4-1 record and will surely use his star power to wow the WWE Universe and the WWE Pros Monday night.

“You can expect this Monday to have the ‘A-List’ stamp all over it. Everything is going to be top-notch,” Otunga said after celebrating with his Pro, R-Truth.

In the most important night of WWE NXT thus far, the Pros’ Poll votes were cast. Despite his winless record, thanks to competing against the likes of the World Heavyweight ChampionChris Jericho and The Great Khali, Daniel Bryan is No. 1 in the Rookie Rankings! But in an Eight-Man Battle Royal of NXT Rookies, it was David Otunga who prevailed, securing his spot as special guest host of Raw Monday night.